1. Field of the Invention
The present invention provides a method, system and program product for preserving and restoring mobile device user settings. Specifically, the present invention provides redundancy for properties files of an enterprise application on a mobile device so that any user-based configuration settings can be preserved and/or restored.
2. Related Art
As the use of mobile devices becomes more prominent, there is an increasing need to provide improved preservation of user settings. Specifically, in business, many employees are provided with mobile devices such as personal digital assistants, laptop computers, etc. to perform their job functions. Typically, the mobile devices are equipped with any necessary enterprise applications and/or resources needed by the employee. For example, if the employee is a sales agent for a retail operation, the enterprise application might include tables that include pricing information for various products. In many cases, an enterprise application is accompanied with a properties file that sets forth the particular configuration/user settings (e.g., look and feel) of the enterprise application for the employee. In general, the properties file is defined on the server by an administrator or the like, and can be varied according to the particular employee. To this extent, the same enterprise application could have a different configuration depending on the user's group, job title, etc.
It has also become common for a mobile device user to personalize the settings of his/her mobile device. For example, an employee might make certain configuration changes to an enterprise application so that he/she can be more efficient. Such changes could include, among other things, certain toolbar layouts, color schemes, etc. In any event, the user will make such changes by modifying the properties file for the enterprise application. However, once a user has personalized the settings of a device in this manner, there is a strong desire for those changes to be preserved irrespective of updates from the server and/or loss of the mobile device. Currently, if a user modifies a properties file for an enterprise application, and an updated properties file is later received from the server, the user's modifications will be overwritten by the updated properties file. Accordingly, the user will be forced to make the changes again. This problem is even more apparent when the user's device fails, is lost, etc.
In view of the foregoing, there exists a need for a method, system and program product for preserving and restoring mobile device user settings. Specifically, a need exists for a system that allows mobile device user settings to be preserved irrespective of updates from a server. A further need exists for mobile device user settings to be restorable in the event of failure/loss of the mobile device.